This invention relates generally to surgical and prosthetic tools and more particularly to such tools used to deliver and insert, by means of rotational torque, dental implants and related components without having to touch and risk contamination of the implants and related components.
It is common to provide dental implants with an external thread for threading into an osteotomy. To insert such implants, a fixture mounting drive tool is used to engage and drive a polygonal drive feature on the implant. This fixture mounting drive tool is driven with rotational torque, either by a hand or power drive tool. It is a conventional procedure to assemble the drive portion of the tool with the fixture mounting portion of the tool without having to touch or contaminate the surgical implant components using a tool which incorporates either a spring or an O-ring inside the drive mechanism to secure the fixture mounting drive tool during its rotary drive procedure and insertion of the surgical device. Although this type of tool performs the desired function of inserting a surgical device into the desired surgical site, the continuous use of such tool tends over time to either wear or fracture the internal spring or O-ring inside the tool. Furthermore, since these tools are made from multiple components and require assembly, they are subject to uncontrolled variations in their fit as well as being relatively costly to produce. Additionally, since these drive tools are frequently used for insertion of dental implants between adjacent dentition, having a drive tool whose outer diameter is minimized is desired. Accomplishing this desired size minimization with a multi component tool involves additional design and manufacturing challenges, adding to cost and adversely affecting reliability.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a tool which overcomes the above noted limitations of the prior art. Another object of the invention is the provision of a tool which locks onto an implant fixture mount and concomitantly an implant which can be driven by a hand or by a power tool, threading the implant into a predefined osteotomy. Yet another object of the invention is the provision of a tool which is formed as a single component not requiring the retention springs or O-rings of the prior art which jeopardize the functional predictability of the tool and which are more costly to produce. Still another object of the invention is the provision of a tool that meets size requirements conducive for placement of an implant between adjacent dentition in the oral cavity.
Briefly, in accordance with the invention, a single component tool has a body having a longitudinal axis and formed with a cavity therein open at its bottom end and provided with a polygonal feature defining the side wall of a section of the cavity. The side wall of another section of the cavity is formed with a frictional locking taper longitudinally in series and in spatial communication with the polygonal feature and in the preferred embodiment, further removed from the bottom end of the body than the polygonal section. The largest diameter of the tapered section is selected to be slightly smaller than the smallest diameter of the internal polygonal so that both a friction locking engagement of a mating cylindrical surface for delivery and a polygonal engagement for driving of a mating polygonal surface can be achieved.
Additional objects and features of the invention will be set forth in part in the description which follows and in part will be obvious from the description. The objects and advantages of the invention may be realized and attained by means of the instrumentalities and combinations particularly pointed out in the appended claims.